Wedding Announcement Cards: Post-Wedding Notification

So You Got Married and Now Need to Tell People

Okay so wedding announcement cards are basically for telling people you got married AFTER the wedding already happened. Not to be confused with save-the-dates or invitations – those go out before. These are the “hey we did the thing” cards that you send after you’re already married.

I had this client in spring 2023 who eloped in Iceland and she was so stressed about how to tell her extended family without making them feel left out. Like she kept saying “I don’t want Aunt Margaret to think I don’t love her” and we must have revised her announcement wording like eight times. That’s when I really got into the psychology of these cards because they’re kinda tricky – you’re sharing happy news but also potentially navigating some hurt feelings from people who weren’t there.

When You Actually Need These Cards

You’ll want announcement cards if you had a tiny wedding and didn’t invite everyone you know. Or if you eloped. Or had a destination wedding with just immediate family. Maybe you had a courthouse ceremony and skipped the big party. Sometimes couples do a private ceremony for personal or financial reasons and then want to share the news widely afterward.

Also they’re great if you got married quickly – like maybe one of you got a job overseas or there was a family situation that meant you moved up the timeline. I’ve also worked with couples who had cultural ceremonies that not everyone would understand or be able to attend, so they sent announcements to their broader circle afterward.

Timing This Whole Thing

You wanna send these within a few months of getting married. Like ideally in the first three months but honestly up to six months is still acceptable. I’ve seen people send them even later and it’s fine – better late than never, right?

But here’s what really annoyed me when I first started doing wedding planning – people would order their announcement cards and then just… sit on them. They’d get cold feet about sending them because they were worried about the reaction or they got busy with honeymoon stuff or moving or whatever. And then suddenly it’s been a year and they feel weird about it. Just send them. Rip the bandaid off.

If you’re gonna include photos from the wedding, you obviously need to wait until you get those back from your photographer. Most photographers deliver within 6-8 weeks, so factor that in.

What Goes On The Actual Card

The wording is pretty straightforward but there’s definitely a format to follow. You need to include both of your names (use your married names if you’re changing names), the date you got married, and the location. That’s the bare minimum.

Traditional wording looks something like:

Jane Marie Smith and John David Williams were married on Saturday, the fifteenth of June, two thousand twenty-four, in Portland, Oregon

Or you can be more casual:

Jane Smith and John Williams got married! June 15, 2024 – Portland, Oregon

Some couples add a line about wanting to share their joy with you or how they’re excited to start this new chapter. You can also include your new address if you moved in together or relocated. That’s actually super practical because then it doubles as an address update.

The Photo Situation

Okay so you can do announcement cards with or without photos. Photo cards are more popular now because everyone loves seeing the pictures, but formal traditional announcements are usually just text on nice cardstock.

If you’re including a photo, pick one that’s actually good. Not the one where you both look kinda weird but the lighting was nice – pick one where you both look happy and like yourselves. I prefer shots where you’re both clearly visible, not super far away or with your faces half-hidden. Save the artistic silhouette shots for your Instagram.

You can do a single photo on the front with text on the back, or text on the front with a photo on the back, or multiple photos in a collage style. Just make sure the text is still readable and not competing with the image.

Addressing and Mailing Them

This is where it gets tedious but you gotta do it right. Make a list of everyone you want to notify – this includes people who weren’t invited to the wedding, people who were invited but couldn’t come, and honestly even some people who were there if you want them to have a keepsake.

Get their current addresses. Don’t assume you have the right address from your holiday card list two years ago. People move. I learned this the hard way when I sent out announcements for my brother’s wedding and like 15 came back as undeliverable.

For addressing, you can handwrite them if you have nice handwriting and not too many to send. Otherwise printed labels are fine, or you can pay for the printing company to do the addressing – most online stationery companies offer this now. Some people think printed addressing looks impersonal but like… nobody actually cares as much as you think they do.

The Etiquette Part That People Stress About

Here’s the thing about announcement cards that confuses people: they are NOT gift grabs. Like this is important. When you send an announcement, you’re not asking for gifts. You’re just sharing news.

That said, some people will send gifts anyway because that’s what they do when someone gets married. That’s their choice. You don’t need to include registry information on announcement cards – that’s actually considered pretty tacky. If people want to know where you’re registered, they’ll ask or they’ll find it on your wedding website if you have one.

But I had this one couple who insisted on printing their Venmo handle on their announcements and I just… anyway, I told them it wasn’t a great look but they did it anyway. Their wedding, their choice, but I still think it was kinda grabby.

Design and Paper Choices

You can go as fancy or as simple as you want with these. If you had a formal wedding, you might want engraved or letterpress cards on thick cotton cardstock. If you had a casual beach ceremony, maybe a flat printed card with a photo is more your style.

Think about matching the vibe of your actual wedding. Like if you got married at a barn venue with wildflowers, maybe don’t send ultra-formal black and white announcements with script font. Keep it cohesive or don’t – honestly it’s your announcement and you can do whatever feels right.

Standard sizes are 5×7 or 4×6 for photo cards. Traditional announcements are often done on A7 cards (5×7 folded). You can also do postcards which are cheaper to mail because you don’t need envelopes, but some people think postcards feel too casual for a marriage announcement. Depends on your crowd.

My cat just knocked over my coffee while I’m writing this which is perfect timing because it reminds me – start this project when you have time to focus on it, not when you’re distracted or rushed. The details matter and you don’t wanna realize you spelled someone’s name wrong after you’ve already mailed 50 cards.

Budget Reality Check

Announcement cards can range from super cheap to surprisingly expensive. You can do basic cards from an online printer for like $1-2 per card. Fancy letterpress or custom designed cards can run $8-15 per card or even more.

Don’t forget to budget for postage. Regular stamps are fine if your cards are standard size and weight. If you’re doing anything oversized or heavy or square-shaped, you’ll need extra postage. Square envelopes cost more to mail because they can’t go through the automated sorting machines – this annoyed me so much when I found out because who knew the post office charged more for shapes??

You can also just do email announcements or social media posts if you want, but I think there’s something nice about getting a physical card in the mail. It feels more intentional and people are more likely to save it or put it on their fridge or whatever.

Special Situations and Wording Changes

If you’re announcing a marriage after you’ve already been married for a bit (like maybe you got married quietly during Covid and are just now getting around to telling people), you can say something like “We’re happy to announce that we were married” instead of using present tense.

For second marriages, the wording is basically the same. You don’t need to mention that it’s your second marriage or anything like that. Just announce your current marriage.

If you have kids from previous relationships or together, you can include them in the announcement. Something like “Together with their children, Emma and Lucas, Jane Smith and John Williams were married…” or however you wanna word it. Some families do photo cards with the whole family in the picture which is really sweet.

The Return Address Thing

Put a return address on your envelopes. Seems obvious but you’d be surprised how many people forget. Use your new shared address if you have one, or whoever’s address is more permanent. You can get a return address stamp which makes this way faster if you’re sending a bunch of cards – I got one from Etsy for like $25 in summer 2021 and I still use it all the time for client projects.

You can put the return address on the envelope flap or on the front upper left corner. Either is fine. If you’re going for a formal look, consider having it printed on the envelope flap in a font that matches your card.

Digital Options Because It’s 2024

Look, not everyone wants to deal with paper cards and that’s totally valid. You can do digital announcements through email or e-card services. Paperless Post has nice options. You can also just design something in Canva and email it as a PDF.

Digital is obviously cheaper and faster. You can send them immediately after your wedding if you want. But they don’t feel as special or permanent – people delete emails, they don’t usually print them out and save them.

Some couples do both – they send digital announcements to their broader network and paper cards to close family and friends. That’s a good compromise if you’re trying to save money but still want something tangible for the people closest to you.

What About Social Media

Posting on social media is not the same as sending announcements, like they serve different purposes. Social media is fine for sharing with your general audience, but if you have family members or older relatives who aren’t on Instagram or whatever, they’re gonna miss it and potentially feel left out.

I usually tell couples to send proper announcements to anyone they actually want to personally notify, and then they can post on social media too if they want. The announcement shows you made an effort to include them specifically rather than just broadcasting to whoever happens to see your post.

Ordering and Proofreading

When you’re ready to order, proofread everything like your life depends on it. Check the spelling of both names, the date, the location, any addresses you’re including. Have someone else proofread it too because you’ve probably looked at it so many times you can’t see errors anymore.

Order samples if the company offers them. Some places will send you a physical sample for a few bucks so you can see the paper quality and colors in person before you order 100 cards. This is worth it for more expensive orders.

Most online printers take about 2-3 weeks for production, sometimes faster if you pay for rush shipping. Add time for addressing and mailing. So if you want people to receive them within two months of your wedding, you need to order them pretty soon after you get married or get your photos back.

Order a few extra cards beyond what you need – maybe 10-20 extra depending on your total. You’ll probably think of people you forgot, or you’ll mess up addressing a few envelopes, or someone will move and you’ll need to resend. Better to have extras than to have to place a second order.

Keeping Some For Yourselves

Save at least a few announcement cards for your own records. Put them in your wedding album or keepsake box or wherever you’re storing wedding memories. Future you will be glad you kept them, and if you have kids someday they might think it’s cool to see… or maybe they won’t care at all but at least you’ll have them.

You can also frame one if you want, though I think framing your actual wedding invitation is more common if you had one. But hey, your house, your walls, frame whatever makes you happy.